Dispensing container



April 1964 E. KIRKWOOD ETAL 3,129,869

DISPENSING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 19, 1962 w 3 0M Vw y miM w/mwr R xmfi r 5 0 r A 5. n WW LHMKV.

1.. E. KIRKWOOD ETAL 3,129,869

April 21, 1964 DISPENSING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1962Um I f .ww mi y u 5 mm? N Ku Or R wac O fiwwm v My 3 #0 BY 4 V KennUnited States Patent 3,129,869 DISPENSING CONTAINER Lewis E. Kirkwoodand Harry W. Bull, Midland, and David 1). Cornell and Kenneth T.Buttery, Kalamazoo, Mich, assignors to The Dow Chemical Company,Midland, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 19, 1962, Ser. No.173,963 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-51) This invention generally relates to adispensing container or carton for thin sheet material and, moreparticularly, relates to an improved dispensing container which makesuse of a novel perforated seam construction positioned in a manner suchthat the container can be readily opened through a pulling action.

It has been conventional in designing cartons for elongated rolls ofthin sheet material, such as a roll of polymeric film, to use similarlyelongated rectangular trunklid style folding cartons. A commondisadvantage of such trunk-lid style cartons is the burdensome degree ofdifficulty the user experiences in attempting to open such a cartonconstruction preparatory to using the product it contains. Where gluespots and perforations have been used previously, they have not allowedthe carton to be correctly opened without a substantial measure ofdifliculty, or without tearing, maiming, or otherwise defacing thecarton itself.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide atrunk-lid style carton which may be readily and easily opened through apulling action.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a trunk-lid stylecarton and product which is delivered to the consumer in a substantiallysealed condition.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a trunk-lidstyle carton which can be readily and easily opened upon application ofpressure no matter how inaptly that pressure is applied.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novelperforated seam arrangement for trunk-lid style cartons which can beeasily opened without tearing, maiming, or otherwise defacing the cartonitself.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a novelvariation of land and cut areas along a perforated seam for trunk-lidstyle cartons which can be readily opened through a pulling action.

Briefly then, the present invention relates to a novel trunk-lid stylecarton wherein a perforated seam is formed between a front flange of alid member and a front panel of the body of the carton such thatinsertion of fingers or other objects under the front flange in a cutoutarea of the flange along that seam results in an opening of the cartonwhen a pulling pressure is applied.

Yet additional objects and advantages of the present invention, and itsnumerous cognate benefits and features are even more apparent andmanifest in and by the ensuing description and specification taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing in which wheresoever possible,like characters of reference designate corresponding material and partsthroughout the several views thereof, in which: 7

FIGURE 1 is a plan view ofa blank as cut, scored and perforated, andfrom which a trunk-lid style container is formed according to theprinciples of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a container formed from theblank of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the container;

3,129,869 Patented Apr. 21, 1964 tainer as viewed in FIGURE 3,illustrating the perforations more in detail;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view of the container as it is about to beopened, taken along reference line 77 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 5 only taken afterthe lid member of the container is opened; and

FIGURE 9 is a front elevational view similar to FIG- URE 3, only of amodified container structure.

Blank 10 for a trunk-lid style container can be formed of any suitablesheet material, such as paperboard, fiberboard, or any other suchmaterial. Referring more particularly to FIGURE 1, hollow body or boxportion 12 of a carton or container 14 (FIGURE 2, for example) comprisesa bottom panel 16 having joined thereto, along a score line 18, a frontpanel 20, and along another score line 18, a rear panel 22. Alsoconnected to the bottom panel, front panel, and rear panel, are oppositeend flaps 2 4-, 26, and 28, respectively, for forming end panels 30(FIGURE 4, for example) of the container 14. These flaps are connectedto their adjacent panel at additional score lines '18. A lid member 32of the blank 10 is formed of a top panel 34 hingedly connected to rearpanel 22 along yet another score line '13. Also forming parts of the lidmember 32 are opposite side flanges 36 and a front flange 38, eachconnected to top panel 34 along other score lines 18. Joined on oppositesides of the front flange 38 are flaps 40' alsojoined by score lines 18.A lip 42 and a lip 44- are formed out of part of front flange 38 by theperforated seam 46 and the cut-out portion 4 8 along one edge of thatflange.

In forming the container 14, front lips 42 and 44 are folded upon frontpanel 20 such that they coincide with the area 47 defined by imaginaryline 48 formed on front flange 20 such that their sides opposite fromthat shown in FIGURE 1 are glued or otherwise secured to the side offront panel 20 illustrated in FIGURE 1.

Container 14 is further assembled by folding along each of its remainingscore lines 18 such that flaps 26 and 28 are glued or otherwise securedto the inside of flap 24 and flaps 40 are glued or otherwise secured tothe inside of flaps 26, with corresponding score lines coinciding.

If desired, anvadditional front flange 50 can be formed on the blank 10to provide a reinforced edge on the front panel 20. It is attached tothe upper part of front-panel 20 along another score line 18 so thatboth of their surfaces opposite from that shown in FIGURE 2 are glued orotherwise secured together. .This serves to provide a smooth roundededge over which the film can pass and serves, in combination with thelips 42 and 44 which remain secured to front panel 29, to reinforcefront panel 20 which is subjected to stresses when film is passedthereover. Of course, lips 42 and 44 would still reinforce front panel20 even if a flange 50 is not employed in a particular carton design.

It is understood that in employing a tube style carton blank, asillustrated in FIGURE 1, that the previously formed carton blank isnormally erected by machine (not shown and not forming a part of thepresent invention) which inserts the roll of film, and then folds andglues the carton end flaps, this resulting in a completed package.FIGURES 2 to 5 illustrate the complete carton 14 including lid member 32and panels 30 and body portion 12. Lid member 32 is illustrated asincluding a top rectangular panel 34 generally of the same, although ofa somewhat larger configuration than that of body portion 12. Extendingdownwardly towards the bottom of the carton 14 are the opposite endflanges or sides 36 and the front flange 38 and lips 42 and 44 of thelid member 32. Body portion 12 contains front panel 20, opposite endpanels 3 30, bottom panel 16, and rear panel 22. A cutter blade 52 alongbottom panel 16 can be added for tearing film 54 from a roll 56.

Referring more particularly to FIGURES 3, 6, and 7, upon a closeexamination of perforated seam 46, as enlarged in FIGURE 6, it can beseen that it consists of a specially designed series of cut areas orperforations 58 and land areas 60 in a linear configuration. Of course,cut-out portion or space 48 forms a complete separation between lips 42and 44. The main pulling area for opening the carton is'that under frontflange 38 directly above space 48 as best illustrated in FIGURE 7. Theperforations are so formed that the land areas along seam 46 decrease,and the cut areas correspondingly increase, along parts thereofprogressively more remote from the main pulling area adjacent space 48.This general arrangement is followed except for two optionalmodifications. One modification is that more land area is formed in theseam 46 adjacent the end portions a of a carton seam to have a stableconstruction to resist tearing during machine set up of the carton andloading of the roll 56. Another modification is that when the cartonblank is erected some bowing near the center portions b of the lipportions occurs so that it may be desirable to slightly increase theland area near the central portion of the seam. However, it must beemphasized that the general principle to be followed is that the landarea is decreased and the degree of perforations is increased as theseam 46 progresses away from the main pulling area since the effect of aforce applied against the seam adjacent space 48 decreases along themore remote or endward areas of that seam. To decrease the land area,one may either increase the length of the cut areas or decrease the landarea between the cut areas. Both principles are applied in theperforated seam 46. Conversely, to increase the land area, one caneither decrease the length of each cut area or decrease the distancebetween the cut areas, or both.

Carton 14, after it is opened, is illustrated in FIGURE 8 to show howthe film 54 is brought over the top of the front panel 20 and downaround the cutting blade 52 along which it can be readily torn after thedesired quantity of film has been removed. It is noted particularly herethat the lips such as 44, remain attached to front panel 20 after thelid member 32 has been separated from body portion 12 to provide theadvantages heretofore discussed.

A modification of the present invention is illustrated in FIGURE 9wherein equally sized lip portions 42 and 44 of carton 14 are replacedby unequally sized lip portions 60 and 62 on each side of a space orcut-out area 64 in modified carton 67. In the same fashion as describedbefore seam 46 employs the principles of decreasing the land areas asthe portions of the seam become more remote from the main pulling areaof the carton. Of course, because of the different sizes of the lips 60and 62 some modifications such as in the areas a and b of FIGURE 6 canbe changed. As an example, an area such as area b of FIGURE 6 may not benecessary on such a short seam as associated with lip 62 of FIGURE 9.The particular arrangement of carton 67 can be used if desired ratherthan the carton 14 for aesthetic reasons or for graphic representationpurposes.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown forthe purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Accordingly, what is claimed as new is:

1. A dispensing container comprising a hollow body portion including afront panel and a rear panel, a lid member hingedly attached to saidrear panel and including a top panel having a flange overlapping saidfront panel, said flange extending a given distance downwardly from thetop of said front panel, a lengthy portion of said flange being cut awayintermediate its ends from the bottom thereof and to a heighth less thansaid given distance to divide the part of the flange overlapping saidfront panel into a plurality of spaced lips joined by a remainingconnecting portion of said flange, a per forated tearing seam along thelength of each of said lips, said lips below said seam being secured tosaid front panel, whereupon pressure applied to said connecting portionof said flange in a direction generally away from said front panelresults in a separation of the lid member from the body portion alongsaid scams.

2. A dispensing container comprising a hollow body portion including afront panel and a rear panel, a lid member hingedly attached to saidrear panel and including a top panel having a flange overlapping saidfront panel, said flange extending a given distance downwardly from thetop of said front panel, a lengthy portion of said flange being cut awayintermediate its ends from the bottom thereof and to a heighth less thansaid given distance to divide the part of the flange overlapping saidfront panel into a plurality of spaced lips joined by a remainingconnecting portion of said flange, a perforated tearing seam along thelength of each of said lips, the land area of each perforated seamgenerally decreasing along the parts thereof becoming progressively moreremote from the cut-away portion of the flange, said lips below saidseams being secured to said front panel, whereupon pressure applied tosaid connecting portion of said flange in a direction generally awayfrom said front panel results in a separation of the lid member from thebody portion along said scams.

3. A dispensing container comprising a hollow body portion including afront panel and a rear panel, a lid member hingedly attached to saidrear panel and including a top panel having a flange overlapping saidfront panel, said flange extending a given distance downwardly from thetop of said front panel, a lengthy portion of said flange being cut awayintermediate its ends from the bottom thereof and to a heighth less thansaid given distance to divide the part of the flange overlapping saidfront panel into a plurality of spaced lips joined by a remainingconnecting portion of said flange, a perforated tearing seam along thelength of each of said lips, the land area of each perforated seam beingof a varying pattern where the land area thereof is generally largeradjacent the ends of the seam and at parts thereof having a tendency tobow outwardly from said front panel, the remaining land area of eachperforated seam decreasing along the parts thereof becomingprogressively more remote from the cut-away portion of the flange, saidlips below said seams being secured to said front panel, whereuponpressure applied to said connecting portion of said flange in adirection generally away from said front panel results in a separationof the lid member from the body portion along said seams.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,234,483 Luke June 24, 1917 1,383,735 McGurn July 5, 1921 1,760,753Hayden a May 27, 1930 1,776,923 Neomoede Sept. 30, 1930 2,390,412 AxbergDec. 4, 1945 2,994,465 Kauifeld Aug. 1, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 473,018Great Britain Sept. 27, 1937

1. A DISPENSING CONTAINER COMPRISING A HOLLOW BODY PORTION INCLUDING AFRONT PANEL AND A REAR PANEL, A LID MEMBER HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO SAIDREAR PANEL AND INCLUDING A TOP PANEL HAVING A FLANGE OVERLAPPING SAIDFRONT PANEL, SAID FLANGE EXTENDING A GIVEN DISTANCE DOWNWARDLY FROM THETOP OF SAID FRONT PANEL, A LENGTHY PORTION OF SAID FLANGE BEING CUT AWAYINTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS FROM THE BOTTOM THEREOF AND TO A HEIGHTH LESS THANSAID GIVEN DISTANCE TO DIVIDE THE PART OF THE FLANGE OVERLAPPING SAIDFRONT PANEL INTO A PLURALITY OF SAID FLANGE, A PERFORATED TEARING SEAMALONG THE LENGTH OF EACH OF SAID LIPS, SAID LIPS BELOW SAID SEAM BEINGSECURED TO SAID FRONT PANEL, WHEREUPON PRESSURE APPLIED TO SAIDCONNECTING PORTION OF SAID FLANGE IN A DIRECTION GENERALLY AWAY FROMSAID FRONT PANEL RESULTS IN A SEPARATION OF THE LID MEMBER FROM THE BODYPORTION ALONG SAID SEAMS.